Roman Italy, 338 BC - AD 200: A Sourcebook

289 Pages·1996·23.49 MB·English

by  Kathryn Lomas

Roman Italy, 338 BC—AD 200
Also by Kathryn Lomas and published by UCL Press
Urban society in Roman Italy (co-editor with T. J. Cornell)
Roman Italy, 338 BC-AD 200
A sourcebook
Kathryn Lomas
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
R
Routledge
Taylor &. Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
© Kathryn Lomas 1996
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.
First published in 1996 by UCL Press
Reprinted 2003 by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane
London, EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data are available.
ISBNs:
1-85728-180-2 HB
1-85728-181-0 PB
Typeset in Elegant Garamond.
Printed and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
Contents

List of illustrations viii
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
A note on terminology and nomenclature xiii
Introduction 1
1 The rise of Rome: Italy 338—200 bc 11
The Samnites 17
The Samnite Wars 17
The Pyrrhic War 19
Treaty with Carthage 20
First Punic War 20
Roman manpower 21
Hannibal and the allies 22
Reasons for revolt 23
Treatment of secessionist allies 27
2 Mechanisms of Roman control:
treaties, alliances and colonies 31
The Latin War and the basis of Roman control 40
Roman colonization 41
Roman treaties and their terms 42
Treaties and the law 43
Military levies and how they worked 45
Alternatives to treaties 46
Ancient views of Roman alliances 47
v
CONTENTS
3 The decline of the alliance: Italy in the second century bc 49
Colonization 56
Unrest in Italy 57
War in northern Italy 61
Changes in allied status 62
Maltreatment of allies 64
Increasing wealth and the benefits of empire 65
Trade and finance: Italians in the East 66
Economic background to the land reforms 68
Earlier land legislation 69

Motivations for reform 70
The Terms of the Land Law, 133 71
bc
The Land Commission 71
Further reforms: 132-122 74
bc
The legislation of C. Gracchus, 123 75
bc
Legal reforms 76
4 The social and civil wars, 90 bc-ad 14 79
Enfranchisement and the Gracchan Land Law 91
Gaius Gracchus and the extension of citizenship 91
Trade and finance: Romans and Italians in the provinces 93
Restrictions on allies 95
The Social War 100
The civil wars 105
Elite mobility and integration in the First century 108
bc
5 Italy and the emperor 111
The organization of Italy 120
Imperial colonization 121
Taxation and remissions 122
Law and order 123
Italians in high places 124
Emperors and the economy 125
Imperial estates 127
Imperial edicts 127
Benefactions and imperial patronage 129
Honouring the emperor 132
6 The Italian economy 137
Natural resources of Italy 146
Dependence on provinces 147
Villas in Italy 148
Tenancy 152
Markets and transport of goods 154
City and countryside 155
vi
CONTENTS
Trade and taxation 156
Pastoralism 158
Loans, rentals and purchases 160
Property rentals 161
7 Cults, sanctuaries and priesthoods in Roman Italy 165
The gods as protectors of the city 176
Temples and sanctuaries: form, function and upkeep 176
Italic cults 180
Foreign cults 181
Rustic cults 184
Cults and Roman control 186
Priests and cult personnel 187
The imperial cult 190
8 Municipal Italy 1: constitutions and
political life of the city 195
How cities were constituted: municipal charters 202
Roman magistrates and pre-Roman survivals 206
Roman control\praefecti, curators and senatorial supervision 207
Divisions within the city: Pagi and Vici 209
Municipal career structures and the political process 210
9 Municipal Italy 2: the social structure of the city 215
Euergetism and the idea of munificence 224
Building and munificence 225
“Bread and circuses”: Games and sportulae 229
Commemorations and honorific inscriptions 232
Euergetism and the law 234
Municipal patrons: appointment, status and activities 235
Social rules and attitudes 238
Municipal senators 240
Equestrian careers 242
Veterans in Italy 242
Local patriotism 243
Augustales 245
Slaves and freedmen 247
Collegia and their activities 248
Notes 253
Bibliography 265
Index 271
vii
List of illustrations

1. Pre-Roman Italy: major settlements 3
2. Pre-Roman Italy: principal ethnic groups 4
3. Roman colonization in Italy, 338-89 BC 33
4. Roman colonization in Italy, 89 BC-AD 300 34
5. Roman Italy: the Augustan regions 85
6. Minturnae: theatre and temples 113
7. Settefinestre: plan of the Roman villa 141
8. Pietrabbondante: plan of the sanctuary 170
9. Pompeii: the forum [c. AD 100] 226
Vlll
Preface

Italy plays a vitally important part in the history of Rome. Italians formed an inte­
gral part of the Roman state, in a way that was not true of any of the other peoples
conquered by Rome, and as such, had a unique and privileged position in the
Roman world. The social and cultural history of Italy, one of the most densely ur­
banized regions in pre-modern European history, is also a subject of great com­
plexity, which is essential for understanding how Rome itself developed. Until
recently, there was comparatively little ongoing research on the history of Roman
Italy, despite the wealth of literary and epigraphic data and the enormous (and
ever-expanding) body of archaeological data. In the last ten years, however, this
situation has changed radically, and there is now a large quantity of new research
on Italy and its relations with Rome, using both traditional methodology and
newly developed theoretical approaches.
This volume largely arises out of several years of attempting to teach courses
on Roman Italy without the benefit of a user-friendly collection of sources to rec­
ommend to students, particularly those with no knowledge of ancient languages.
Its main aim is to fill this gap, giving readers without a grasp of Greek and Latin
access to source material on Roman Italy, but it also seeks to put these data in con­
text and to provide an insight into the main issues and developments of the period
338 BC-AD 200.
I would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for their generous financial sup­
port during the preparation of this volume, and Dr T. J. Cornell and Mr J. J.
Paterson for their comments and assistance.
ix